It may have a world-famous opera festival and several active arts groups but Wexford is no hotbed of quality live music.
Now locals, tired of checking the entertainment listings for Dublin, Cork and Galway and thinking "if only Wexford could get a slice of that action", have decided to do something about it.
From early next year, it is planned to have a Good Music Club in the town which would stage regular concerts for committed fans who miss out on acts of a certain calibre unless they're prepared to travel long distances.
"Wexford has a reputation for being a centre of free thinking, high culture and fine art. Maybe this is deserved, but I have my doubts," says Mr Senan O'Reilly, the man behind the music club initiative.
"Outside of the opera festival, the concerts organised by the Wexford Arts Centre, the Music for Wexford people, the occasional Wexford Sinfonia concert and the even more occasional music festival, Wexford is missing out badly on live music performances."
Mr O'Reilly, who recently organised a successful John Martyn concert in the Ferrycarrig Hotel, set the music club idea in motion some months ago at a meeting with the Wexford County Council arts officer, Ms Lorraine Comer, and the director of Wexford Arts Centre, Mr Denis Collins.
His proposal was to establish a club which people would pay to join and which would provide gigs on a regular, probably fortnightly, basis. The three also discussed the range of music that could be on offer, including world, blues, jazz, folk, contemporary, traditional and classical.
As there would be some crossover with work already being done by bodies such as the Wexford Arts Centre and Music for Wexford, it was suggested the club might underwrite some of the performances organised by these bodies.
Mr O'Reilly then distributed a questionnaire. Respondents said they would prefer a mix of music styles, like to go to gigs once a month but did not like to travel too far for their music. Many also said they would join a club and would prefer a season running from autumn to spring.
A further meeting was held recently with Ms Comer and Mr Collins, which was also attended by Mr Jackie Hayden of Hot Press, and the possibility of broadening the scope of the club to include talks by performers and workshops with local musicians was examined.
Mr Hayden put forward the alternative view that, rather than setting up a club, it might be best to stick with one-off concerts such as the John Martyn performance. Ms Comer, however, has agreed to give the support of the arts office to the venture and the club idea will proceed, "a little more conservatively than originally planned", says Mr O'Reilly.
"The first few gigs, run once per month from late January to March, will pander to a fairly broad base so as to encourage attendance. John Martyn is committed to a gig in March, while Liam O'Flynn and The Piper's Call band will, subject to confirmation, play here in February." The January act has yet to be chosen.
"The Good Music Club is still in the workshop having major engineering structural works done to it . . . However, from next March we hope to have a detailed programme in place and a formal club to which people can subscribe."